


The Shortcut

by pencilguin



Series: Fictober 2018 [6]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-30
Updated: 2018-12-30
Packaged: 2019-09-30 21:06:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17231201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pencilguin/pseuds/pencilguin
Summary: The annual ceremony of Forest Haven is about to start and Makar and Linder are running late on their way home. Makar suggests a shortcut ... but things don't go well.





	The Shortcut

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally posted on Tumblr as part of the Fictober 2018 challenge. Unbeta'd; I apologize for any mistakes that might still be in there. 
> 
> I feel sooo bad for writing this and doing this to them, you have no idea. But unfortunately, it's canon.

“Hurry up, Linder! We’re going to be late again! We _can’t_ be late for the forest ceremony!” 

“Calm down, Makar!” Linder gasped, clinging to his magical leaf. “I’m already going as fast as I can!” 

“But doesn’t it bother you that everyone always teases us about being late all the time?” 

Makar kept flying at an impressive speed and Linder was still struggling to keep up with him. Their scouting trip for the Great Deku Tree had taken them to Shark Island in the West, but foul weather and attacking Seahats had unexpectedly delayed their return. 

“Well, apparently not as much as you,” Linder responded. “No worries, we still have time. They’re not going to start the ceremony without us; certainly not without their musician.” 

Suddenly Makar seemed to spot something ahead of them. 

“Hey, Linder! Look at the cyclones! If they’re aligned like that, we’ll never make it back in time. They’ll just whirl us around like dried leaves.” 

“Well,” Linder responded slowly, not liking his friend’s suspicious tone at all, “we’ll have to fly extra carefully then to avoid that.” 

“Or,” Makar suggested, and Linder closed his eyes and braced himself because rarely did that tone bode well and the more dire the situation, the worse Makar’s ideas tended to get, “we could take the shortcut and fly over the Forbidden Woods.” 

“Makar!” Linder began, but his friend interrupted him. 

“Look! With the way the cyclones are aligned right now, the currents will keep them out of our path.” 

Linder sighed. 

“Makar, the Deku Tree _forbade_ it, and for good reason. It’s dangerous. If we crash land in the Forbidden Woods, we’re finished.” 

“That’s not going to happen,” Makar replied cheerfully. _Cheerfully_! Linder threw his free arm up in frustration and rushed after him as he set a direct course for the sinister island rising out of the ocean like the trunk of a giant tree not unlike the shape of Forest Haven, though darker and much more threatening with its spikes and thorns and the airborne monsters roaming around in its vicinity. 

“Makar! You can’t be serious!” he called after him. “Please, can we not go over there? It’s … it’s really scary …” He kept glancing down nervously as the dark and dangerous island came closer with every rotation of his leaf. 

“Don’t worry, Linder. Nothing bad will happen to you. I’ll watch out for you!” 

“Oh no oh no oh no …” Linder kept muttering like a mantra, trying not to look down but unable to stop himself. He was almost above the island now. “How would you even take care of me? Your magical leaf can’t carry us both. If either of us falls, we’ll die.” 

“We’re not going to … oh no.” 

“What?” Linder shrieked in a panic. “What ‘oh no’? Makar, what’s wrong?” 

“Watch out!” his friend yelled. 

Then Linder heard them: Kargaroks. Three of the large, colourful birds with the mean yellow eyes came sweeping down, circling them and stopping them from going any further. The circle kept getting smaller, until they split up and two of them started to close in on Makar, while the third moved towards Linder. 

“No! Go away!” Makar yelled—impressively, Makar had always had more courage than was good for him, in Linder’s opinion, but he doubted that the Kargaroks would be persuaded by that. 

They both danced on the currents of the wind, struggling to dodge the sharp beaks that tried to peck at them, until— 

The loud shriek from Makar almost made Linder lose his grip on the magical leaf. All he could do was watch helplessly as his friend plummeted towards the island below them, where he disappeared into the darkness of the Forbidden Woods. 

“Makar, no!” 

All three Kargaroks rushed after him, leaving Linder all alone. They circled low over the woods for a while, searching for their fallen prey. He watched helplessly as the large birds roamed below him, all the while trembling with fear and shock, and crying, and clinging desperately to his leaf. 

“Makar …” 

Still sobbing, he forced himself to move—get as far away as possible before the raptors remembered he was still there. He needed to return home, go to the Great Deku Tree—he would be mad at them both, no doubt, but he was the only one who would know what to do. The last part of the way back home would be the hardest, and probably the slowest. Tears clouded his vision and his trembling hands could barely cling on to his leaf, but all Linder could think about was that he needed to get help and bring his best friend back. 


End file.
